Just now, the mercenaries of the Death Spreading Sword Sect were facing a completely one-sided situation against the Ghost Hound. If it weren't for the Magic Caster on their side suppressing it, the number of casualties would likely have been much higher.
And now!
The Magic Caster suppressing the Ghost Hound had already switched targets; more accurately, he was working with another Magic Caster to suppress the Emerald Leaf Witch.
This was originally Brian's request, to have Captain Feikampa completely restrict the Emerald Leaf Witch!
"You truly aren't an ordinary Ghost Hound. Fine, I'll treat this as a warm-up before the real battle."
The corners of Brian's mouth curled up as he looked at the ferocious Ghost Hound, which stood nearly two meters tall. He suddenly kicked off the ground and charged forward.
"Flow Acceleration"!
Clang— Clang— Brian's sword-swinging speed increased a notch. Pressing against the constantly flailing chains, he rapidly approached the Ghost Hound.
"Roar." The Ghost Hound's pupils constricted as it quickly retracted the chains, wrapping them back around its body, and swung its sharp claws.
Swoosh!
Brian sidestepped to avoid it, his longsword following the motion of his turn as he delivered a horizontal slash.
Clang!
The blade collided with the Bone Chain and was blocked.
But immediately after, Brian used the tip of his sword to parry upward and press down. With great skill, he forced the Bone Chain to shift backward with the momentum, and the tip of his sword easily carved a gash into the Ghost Hound's body.
A spray of blood splattered out.
The Ghost Hound let out a roar, quickly turned around, and lunged with its bloody maw wide open.
Thud.
Brian kicked off with his front foot, dodging once again.
The Ghost Hound turned its entire body's horns, claws, and Bone Chains into weapons, launching a fierce and continuous assault.
However!
Brian used his flexible techniques to avoid the entire series of attacks. His footwork was elegant and composed, and with every swing of his longsword, he carved another wound onto the Ghost Hound's body.
In just a few moments.
The Ghost Hound's fur was already stained red with blood; it was being completely suppressed by its opponent in every aspect.
"Come back, Little Black," Lyle's voice came from behind.
Breathing heavily, the Ghost Hound's bloodshot eyes glared fiercely at Brian.
Chain Cyclone!
Boom!
The slithering chains shot out with extraordinary speed, swinging in all directions in an attempt to force Brian back.
Facing such a powerful attack,
Brian's eyes were like torches. He stepped back and crouched, seemingly having anticipated this. While avoiding the chain attack, he swung his longsword upward from below: "Die!"
Hiss— the blade shimmered with a cold light, tracing a sharp arc through the air. With enough force to easily cleave an armored soldier in two, it slashed toward the Ghost Hound.
Clang!
Sparks flew!
A Flame Archangel rushed forward to block the Ghost Hound, its Flame Sword colliding with the longsword with a crisp, loud bang.
The Flame Archangel's wings vibrated as it was uncontrollably knocked backward.
"Oh my, you escaped," Brian said with annoyance as he saw the Ghost Hound had already moved out of range. He rested his longsword on his shoulder, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips as he looked across.
By now, Lyle had stepped down from the carriage. Looking at the scarred Ghost Hound that had returned to him, he pulled a bottle of Regeneration Potion from his robes:
"Pfft, you're no match for him at all, Little Black."
He opened the stopper and poured it over the Ghost Hound, saying, "Relying on brute force won't work against a technical opponent like that, not to mention your strength is lower than his."
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two Flame Archangels, one on the left and one on the right, charged toward Brian simultaneously.
Brian's eyes darted left and right, determining the movement trajectories of the Flame Archangels, while his gaze fell on the Ghost Hound's wounds, which were rapidly healing at a visible rate.
"Tch, as expected of an Alchemist. If this turns into a war of attrition, you'd definitely be a headache-inducing character."
"Well then— let's get a bit more serious!"
Brian sneered, leaning his body to the left to meet the Flame Archangel charging from that direction first.
"Quick Slash!"
A flurry of strikes like a gale lashed out. Immediately after, a faint blue light flashed across Brian's body, and his form instantly snapped back to its previous state.
"Instant Reflex!"
Another strike lashed out!
The two strikes were completed almost in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a sound like tearing cloth.
Bang! Bang!
The two Flame Archangels were sliced in half, dissolving into points of white light.
'Summoning two angel monsters for long-range attacks, having a Ghost Hound Demonic Beast for close-range protection, plus Regeneration Potions to heal wounds.'
"Hey, this kind of setup is already comparable to an elite adventurer party."
The corners of Brian's mouth curled up, a look of disdain on his face as he raised his longsword and pointed the tip at Lyle:
"Unfortunately, you met me, black-haired kid. If you don't have any other tricks, then go ahead and die."
"Half a year ago, I watched that 'Royal Tournament' in the Royal Capital," a calm voice came from behind the Ghost Hound.
Brian's sword-gripping hand paused, his face expressionless: "Oh, so you know me. It's too late to try and build a connection or beg for mercy now."
Although that duel in the Royal Capital had greatly increased his fame, in Brian's eyes, it was a disgrace rather than an honor!
As the runner-up, all the praise he received served no purpose other than to further elevate that fellow Gazef.
"No."
The pure white priest robes rustled softly in the cold wind as Lyle stepped out from behind the Ghost Hound, his tone gentle and slow:
"You were just as confident before you lost to Gazef, weren't you, Brian?"
Snap!
Brian's gaze instantly became incredibly cold, and his entire body released a bone-chilling killing intent.
"I won't follow your example of being smug before even defeating an opponent. As a negative example, you are quite qualified."
Lyle shook his head, digging in mercilessly:
"So next, I'm going to use my trump card. Weren't you also suspecting I had something else up my sleeve? Then I'll let you see it. Don't die on me."
Pop!
The loose sleeves of his priest robes swayed as he crushed a scroll.
Whoosh!
An even more dazzling and divine magical light bloomed above Lyle's head. First came a ring of bright white light, followed by a massive, three-meter-tall angel with a tall and slender figure appearing in everyone's sight.
"4th Tier Angel Summoning: Archangel of Peace (Rank 28)!"
Two pairs of bright yellow wings—one large and one small—unfurled. Its slender build clearly indicated it was an offensive-type angel monster.
"Whew~, this is my strongest method."
Lyle exhaled heavily, his face showing a look of exhaustion.
"This, this— Fourth Tier———"
Brian craned his neck, his pupils showing a light of disbelief as goosebumps broke out all over his body.
If the two previous Flame Archangels only required him to be serious to deal with, then this massive angel before him...
Brian felt an aura of death from it. His sharp warrior instincts, in particular, were screaming in warning.
The current Brian was far from reaching his level of four years later; what's more, even the Brian of four years later only had a Rank of '28'.
Swoosh!
The white figure flashed before everyone's startled eyes and had already appeared in front of Brian.
"Strike Against Evil!"
The Archangel of Peace swung its spear-like staff weapon downward.
Boom!
"Too fast——"
Brian's eyes widened. He barely managed to block with his sword in front of his chest. Tremendous power exploded against the blade, and his body was uncontrollably sent flying.
He crashed into a thicket dozens of meters away, causing a loud boom.
"Still a bit too weak." Lyle watched this scene with calm eyes, shaking his head almost imperceptibly with some disappointment.
A Rank 28 4th Tier angel was only one level away from the Hero Realm; this was already considered top-tier combat power among humans.
An angel monster of this level alone was enough to handle most situations.
"You've been hiding for so long, it's about time you came out." Lyle's cold gaze swept over the corpses on the surrounding ground.
Swoosh!
The Archangel of Peace flew back above Lyle, and a dazzling Holy Light was released from its spear-staff:
"Holy Light!"
A gentle and pure light, not particularly intense, rapidly spread outward. The shadows of the mercenaries' corpses lying on the ground began to lengthen.
Among them,
With Lyle as the center, within the messy pile of corpses, the shadows of eight bodies did not change.
Under the illumination of the Holy Light, the Assassins, who were equipped with magic items and possessed magical effects similar to Invisibility, instead reflected faint humanoid outlines.
"We've been discovered!"
"Move!"
In an instant, cold voices devoid of emotion rang out.
The cloaks on the eight humanoid outlines fluttered as they simultaneously revealed themselves, turning into eight black afterimages that all rushed toward Lyle.
"Assassins of 'Izaniya'," Lyle felt a bit disappointed.
The concealment abilities of these Assassins were indeed very stealthy. However, no matter how strong the concealment, it was useless before Lyle's Status Panel.
As for the source of his disappointment,
It was that these Assassins were all ordinary job class holders and hadn't mastered the Advanced class of [Ninja] at all.
"I thought that leader would show up, but they only sent ordinary Assassins. Am I being underestimated?
Or is the bounty simply not enough?" Lyle wondered.
Boom!
A huge tremor suddenly erupted behind him.
The Archangel of Peace, which had been hovering overhead, had already appeared behind Lyle. Just a moment ago, a figure like a shooting star
had forcefully slammed directly into the Archangel of Peace.
"Was it blocked?"
A youth wearing a maid outfit with a pair of rabbit ears on his head let out a soft sigh as he saw his full-powered sneak attack had been stopped.
These animal traits, distinct from normal humans, indicated that this youth was clearly a Demi-human, and a quite rare Rabbitman at that.
"Strike Against..."
The Archangel of Peace swung its spear-staff, just about to launch an attack.
The Rabbitman's feet lightly tapped the ground, and with just a gentle leap, he had already jumped to a position level with the head of the Archangel of Peace hovering in mid-air.
Thump!
A heavy whip-kick struck the head of the Archangel of Peace, actually causing it to stumble.